Object in focus 2025

Home Fellows Object in focus Object in focus 2025

For 2025, participants were once again asked to create and propose a new interpretation for an object currently on display in the British Museum.

Working in their departmental groups. fellows worked to create, develop a proposal to ‘reimagine’ an object from the Museum’s galleries.

New for 2025, the final reception was held in the Living and Dying Gallery of the Museum.

Asia

‘Paint’ Nachanok Wongkhaluang, Curator, Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, Thailand

Thuy Pham, Head of Department of Education and Community, Vietnam National Museum of History, Vietnam

Vineet Kajrolkar, Senior Exhibitions Manager, Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), India

Paint Wongkhaluang, Vineet Kajrolkar, Thuy Pham standing with Object in focus display

Fragment of a wooden lute. This is only the neck of the instrument, the body has not survived. The lute had four gut strings, the remains of which can still be seen around three remaining tuning pegs of the original four.

Fragment of a wooden lute.

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Wooden folding-stool. The well cut and finished base rails are cylindrical and without further decoration. The folding legs each terminate in a head of a duck or goose.

Wooden folding stool.

Egypt and Sudan

Gehad Shawky Ali, Community Engagement and Outreach Programme Coordinator, The Archaeological Awareness Administration of Luxor, Egypt

Shimaa Gomaa, Deputy Director of Technical Affairs, Egypt’s Capitals Museum, Egypt

Gehad Ali and Shimaa Gomaa stand with object in focus displays

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Greece & Rome

Perihan Donertas, Archaeologist, Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Demetra Ignatiou, Associate Curator, Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, Cyprus

Olena Shevchenko, Head of Archaeological Collections Management & Research Department, Odesa Archaeological Museum, Ukraine

Olena Shevchenko, Demetra Ignatiou and Perihan Donertas standing with their Object in focus display

Mosaic; a continuous floor in two large panels, joined by an eleven foot opening.

The Hinton St. Mary Mosiac

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Apron made yellow and red glass beads in stripe design; woven with cotton thread; multicolored beaded fringe.

Apron from Suriname

Africa, Oceania and the Americas

Fernando Astudillo, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)

Daniel Lira, Specialist in Indigenous Policies, Museu do Indio / FUNIA (National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples)

Julian Roa Triana, Consultant, Colombia

Daniel Lira, Fernando Astudillo and Julian Roa Triana standing with their object in focus display.

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Asia

Deemanka Jayakodi, Curator, Colombo National Museum, Sri Lanka

Komal Pande, Deputy Curator, National Museum, New Delhi, India

Li Yingchong, Section Chief of Educational Research & Development, Palace Museum, China

Komal Pande, Li Yinchong, Deemanka Jayakodi standing with their object in focus display

Figure. Image of the crowned Buddha seated on an three-elephant throne. Made of painted and gilded and lacquered wood.

Figure of the crowned Buddha seated on an three-elephant throne. Made of painted and gilded and lacquered wood.

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Stucco wall panel; moulded plaster with decoration.

Stucco wall panel from Siraf.

Middle East

Hanan Abdalhamza, Manager, Cuneiform Department, Iraq Museum, Iraq

Nabhan Al Barwani, Head of Collection, Oman Across Ages Museum, Oman

Leila Al-Sammak, Curator, National Museum of Damascus, Syria

Safoura Kalantari, Cultural Heritage Expert, Southeast Regional Museum of Iran, Iran

Hanan Abdalhamza, Leila Al-Sammak, Safoura Kalantari and Nabhan Al Barwani standing with object in focus display

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Africa, Oceania and the Americas

La’akea Ai, Digital Humanities Specialist, Bishop Museum, Hawai’i USA

Kataraina Poi, Assistant Guardian of Taonga Maori, Tairawhiti Museum, New Zealand

La'akea Ai and Kataraina Poi standing with their Object in focus display.

stone currency: heavy circular piece of stone with a central hole.

Stone currency from Yap